The Philippines’ House of Representatives approved legislation to suspend further increases to the Social Security System (SSS) contribution rate despite objections from the pension fund’s chief executive officer, who warned it would worsen the fund’s already “dire” financial position.
House of Representatives Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, who had proposed the legislation, argued that postponing the rate hikes would provide “much-needed relief” to Filipinos coping with fallout from the coronavirus crisis.
“These are extraordinary times, thus the remedy needed to further unburden our countrymen are also extraordinary,” he says in a statement on January 21 after his bill won lawmakers’ approval.